After briefly catching his breath, Gerdar pushed onward as fast as he could with a menacing grin on his face.

 

(Dash part 2)

The witch continued her mad dash up the ridge, following the lead of the others. She could sense the coming confrontation and dark magic crackled through her being in anticipation.

Hornet drew his rapier and made the last dash up the hill towards the vile bugbears; ready to engage as soon as possible.

Uthal stands tall after dashing to the top to find himself and Thäoran confronted by the two earlier retreating bugbears. He twirls his quaterstaff and stands ready to confront them (Uthal will take on the bugbear, that Thäoran is not).

Smiling he asks Thäoran, "So, how much does a bugbear's ear fetch?" The excitement of battle upon them.

Lilly was moving up the trail as quickly as she could and not fall.  She saw two of the team members, Thaoran and Uthal she thought, reach the top and were engaged by the two bugbears up there.  Seeing all the fun happening without her, she gritted her teeth and gripped her hoopak tighter as she rushed the rest of the way to the top.  She moved towards the right of Uthal intending to pass him on the right.

 

She was ready to engage anything that attacked her, intending to use her agility to dodge, or roll out of the way.  

 

(OOC: Okay, I’m not sure on what she can do here.  I know she is 25’ from the top, which I think she can reach the top in this round.  She means to pass to the right of Uthal, and if she has any action, she will use it for defensive dodging if the bugbears or anything else attacks her.  A tumble roll to the front right would be her choice, if available. If you need any clarification, let me know.)

((OOC: Nomad hasn't answered my questions in the Q&A yet, so I'm sorry if what I do in my post isn't possible. If I do anything wrong, please tell me and I'll edit it))
'The Sheriff of Botkinberg has promised us 2gp for each right goblin ear we present to him,' Thäoran answered in response to Uthal enquirey. 'Plus 50gp for each Molkin twin we rescue,' the elf added.

Thäoran raised his father's rapier, the elf's slender hand getting a more thorough grip on the blade's hilt as his sapphire cat-like eyes gazed determidly at the foes before him. Elves were tall, but the two brutes that faced them were taller still. The beasts loomed a good 5 inches above him. Still, he did not allow that to deter and cower him and he shifted the angle of his body slightly so as to aim at the bugbear on the right. His goal was to slay the fiend or, failing that, at least keep the monster distracted long enough for the rest of the party to scale the cliff and join them on the plateau. The elf aimed a swift, horizontal slash at the bugbear's bulging belly while with the other, prepared to block any counterattack his enemy may deliver, either to himself (Thäoran) or to any of his fellow companions who had yet to reach the platform.

((OOC: So what Thäoran is doing is attacking as normal but also using Shield to attempt to block a counterattack from the Bugbear. He will try and block whatever attack the bugbear delivers, wether the attack is aimed at Thäoran or someone else. I'm not 100% sure how this works. Can Thäoran use his shield to defend someone else if they're being attacked? Using your shield is a bonus action, right? Meaning you can attack and defend from a counterattack on the same turn?))

Dok muttered a prayer-laced curse at the Bug Bear, after his Guiding Bolt failed to hit its mark and began running as fast as he was able to run, without losing his footing on his upward trek, focusing on taking a defensive stance closer to his enemies!

The Hill Dwarf Cleric of Helm would not waste another spell as he chose to close into fighting range with his trusty battle axe!

The battle of the Pyre was on.  Two bugbears stood cornered as the party started pouring over the edge of the flat area and onto the open ground.

               Thaoran saw the bugbear in front of him and aimed a rapier blow at the creature’s gut.  But the beast wasn’t just big, it was quick as well and it easily knocked the blow aside with its morning star.  It grinned an evil grin at the elf and laughed. 

               Lily was tired of watching the others have all the fun and put on whatever speed her Kender sized frame could attain while going up a steep and rugged surface.  She reached the edge of the flat space and quickly darted to the right of Uthal, doing a nifty little tumbling roll up onto the flat space and flying past the feet of one the bugbears as it moved up to the edge.  She landed on her feet with her hoopak in front of her as she laughed at the surprised creature towering over her. 

               The bugbear who had been a few feet back of the edge charged forward as the party began to emerge – almost stumbled when Lily went flashing past his legs.  But the Kender blur was not enough to distract him from his primary target – the large nightwalker that had recently joined the party.  The beast slammed his morning star at Uthal as he came forward, connecting on a brutal swing.  (-12 hp).

               At that point Hornet moved up (to the left of Thaoran – it is the easiest spot) and took a swing at the same one his companion had missed. But Hornet had no better luck and also missed.  (Didn’t need a dash to get up, so interpreted comments as wanting to attack.)

               The rest of the party continued to move up the hill.  They all dashed forward looking to join the fray.  Gerdar was able to reach the top by dashing – he was ready to swing next turn but realized that those still coming up the hill would need to find a way around their own party members to actually get onto the ledge.  That path was blocked by their compatriots locked in battle.

               The other bugbear, after easily knocking aside Thaoran’s attack, laughed at him and swung his massive morning star at the elf’s head.  But the eldritch knight responded with a shield spell and ducked, easily avowing the vicious weapon as it swept past his head.  Now it was his turn to laugh at his opponent.

               Uthal, staggered by the bugbears attack, attempted to sweep his staff at the creatures exposed legs, but missed when it took a quick step backwards. 

               It hadn’t been a very successful round of attacks for the party, but reinforcements were on the way.  As more and more group members came up the hill you thought you saw fear in the eyes of the monsters in front of you. 

 

Overview

Right now, four of you are on the ledge/flat area and confronting the bugbears.  In order from left to right it is:  Hornet, Thaoran, Uthal and Lily.  Gerdar is right there as well but needs to work his way around the group to get at the enemy. 

Previously I have listed your distance from the bottom – this is now your distance FROM THE TOP.  Remember that you can go about 15’ and still take an action or 25-30’ (depending on race) by using the dash and not get an action.  Now, however, you will need another 10’ of lateral movement to get around your party members.  This does not, however, affect distance attacks.  If you are right at the edge of the flat area but behind the row of fighters (where Gerdar is now) you can make ranged attacks – spell or weapons.  In the wonderful world of D&D, shooting through a space occupied by a companion is possible.  But melee attacks require getting around them.  If you are at the top the bugbears do not have partial cover from ranged attacks, but if you are still below the ledge they do.

So, distances left to the top:

Gerdar – at the top but behind the fighters

Soledad – 15’

Silver-   20’

Dok – 25’

 It seemed luck was with the bugbears as Hornet and several others missed their attacks.  But luck was fickle and as Hornet attacked again he hoped for a better outcome.

Thäoran cursed under his breath as the slim blade of his rapier was deflected by the bugbear's mace. But the elf didn't hesitate to attack again and this time aimed a quick thrusting stab at the beast's gut, hoping the monster would be too slow to defend himself this time.

There was no hesitation from Soledad when she reached the top of the ridge. Fey magic crackled at her fingertips yearning for release, the witch obliged. Hissing a dark word of power, she summoned a discordant nightmare chorus that only the bugbear could hear. It would know pain beyond pain.

((OOC: Discordant Whispers targeting the Bugbear that is facing Thaoran and Hornet. This should cause the Bugbear to immediately retreat inviting an attack of opportunity from both allies.))

With a grin on her lips, Lilly moved further onto the ledge, about 15 feet, to clear the path so the rest of the party could come up to join the fun.  She took a quick look around the rest of the ledge to see if there were any other attackers.

If she sees other targets on the ledge, she will shout a warning to the group and go into a defensive mode. 

If she sees nothing other than the two bugbears that are already engaging the party, she turns back around looking at the back of the bugbears she will slip a ball into her hoopak and aiming up at the bugbear that was nearest to her, the one by Uthal, and looses the shot(s).

((OOC:  I can’t recall if she gets two shots with her hoopak, it is like a sling staff basically, but don’t see it on my character sheet?))

The sounds of battle beyond the ledge drew Dok like a magnet as he climbed the remaining 25 feet as fast as he could, while he readied himself with his trusty battle axe to aid his companions, once he gained an advantageousl position beyond the ledge.

Stumbling back from the hit, Uthal regains his footing, moves back toward the bugbear and takes another swing, attacking back again with his Quaterstaff.

The battle continues to rage, and the party attempts to take advantage of their numerical superiority.  Thaoran slashes at the bugbears gut and while he did get his blade past its guard this time, it skittered across the armor to no effect.  Words were muttered but only another member of his clan would have known their meaning.  His opinion of the miss, however, was obvious.

               The bugbear started to laugh at his opponent’s futility when Soledad reached the top of the hill and started whispering of vile things in its ear.  She stood about 10’ from the creature and smiled as its eyes flew open in horror at the voice only it could hear.  (-8hp psychic damage) The creature howled as bugbears are inclined to do and attempted to run as far as he could from the source of his nightmare.  But neither Hornet nor Thaoran were willing to let it leave so easily.  Hornet slashed the creature across the side opening a vicious gash that staggered the creature and made it lurch towards Thaoran as it spun.  (Crit hit:  -12 hp)  Seeing this opponent that had twice escaped his blade already stumble in front of him as it ran to leave, the elf’s mutters turned to an exclamation of victory as the beast’s gut was exposed in mid spin.  This time, he didn’t miss.  His rapier disappeared into its side and the creature dropped first to its knees and then to the ground, sliding off of his killer’s blade.   Give the expression in its eyes, it might have been better off this way then with the witch’s nightmare whispers.  (Both got attacks of opportunity.)

               That left one bugbear still standing and Lily took aim.  She planted her hoopak in the ground and fired a stone right at the creature’s noggin’.  It bounced off the things head, but unfortunately off of the helmet covering it as well.  The creature seemed surprised by the blow but unhurt.  Meanwhile Hornet stepped over the fallen bugbear and slashed at the exposed side of the only living enemy – another solid blow.  (-9 hp)  (This was his attack for the turn, the previous attack was an attack of opportunity.) 

               Dok meanwhile continued his race to the top, finally reaching the top but still blocked by his friends.  Gerdar started to move around the others to try and flank the creature. 

               Before he could be flanked however the bugbear moved.  You could see the fear in its eyes as it took in its fallen ally and the large number of enemies surrounding it.  It moved backwards quickly retreating from the fight.  (Using the disengage action – so it can’t attack but also does not provoke an attack of opportunity.)  It moved 30’ back and to the right – up to the edge of the lip.  It looked like it wanted to jump down and run, but Gerdar wasn’t that far away if it tried and the hillside, while passable, was treacherous at best.  It spun back towards the party and threw down its weapon.  It backed up another step towards the edge, raised its arms and shouted something in goblin.  “Ashtagatog!  Viligorg!”  (Translation available if anyone knows goblin.) 

 

Overview

*Uthal still has his move this round – everyone else has gone.  I have paused things here because the situation has obviously changed.  If appropriate, for example if you attack, he will get to go first and then we will move to the top of the next round.  In essence Uthal would have two moves in that case.  Whatever Uthal does happens first. 

The only bugbear left (Lily did look around for other threats and saw none.) is about 30’ from most of you but only about 10-15’ from Gerdar and Lily on the right side of the flat area.  This area is relatively smooth and easy to move – it is not difficult terrain, so movement rates are normal.  At this distance the fighters in the group could engage him again before he can again move out of reach. 

I assumed both players that got attacks of opportunity would take them since it seemed fairly obvious.  You can always correct an assumption like this.  If it isn’t obvious I will contact you to ask what the plan is.  If it feels obvious I will move things along.